Robertson Tribe Updates

There are a ton of little things rattling around in my brain and I need to dump them somewhere. Here we go.

Miss C is home, sleeping in her own bed, as I type this. We miss her so.very.much. I hope she enjoyed herself here because we certainly enjoyed having her here. When I took the coffee pot off the counter to put it in the pantry, I missed her all over again.

We don’t have a Christmas tree and I’m not sure we’re getting one. I’m kind of struggling with that one…..

I killed the biggest, ugliest, scariest cockroach EVER. C and I even took pictures of it, even though it was disgusting. Ew, ew, ew. They grow ‘em big here in HKG. This is after I saw the largest grasshopper/walking stick type insect sitting on my desk next to the computer a few days before. The difference was the hubby was home to kill the grasshopper. Where was he when I had the cockroach crisis? CHINA!

THEN, I found a lizard in my bathtub. I freaked (quietly) and went to get the kids so they could see it before I “set him free”. When I returned, all I could see was his tail STICKING UP OUT OF MY DRAIN!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! And hubby……?? IN CHINA!!

Wanna come visit?

I found an ironing board and a dish drainer, along with cool Oxo mixing bowls. I am a much happier woman now. They are not as easy to find as you might think. Next to impossible, I might add. And yes, I had the ironing board delivered. I did not take it on the subway.

We arranged for a tutor to teach us conversational Chinese. We’ll start at the first of the year. Soon, I’ll be able to say my address in Chinese to avoid any other taxi issues, which is great.

Some of the nicest people in the world live here in HKG. I know this because I’ve met lots of them. The ladies at the Mom’s Group I attend have been super and have welcomed me, as well as my children, with open arms. Praise the Lord.

The Spaghetti House restaurant has delicious pizza and homemade lasagne which makes my family happy. Some nights, you just need to go there and get a pizza fix. We do that about once a week.

Did I mention we have bugs that will carry my 2 year old away?!!

I only have four more boxes to unpack. FOUR. When they are done, there will be a celebration. A large celebration.

Before C left, we all tramped down the flower market, which is fairly close to our flat. The kids each got a plant, which they named, of course. B sings to hers, made a blanket for it, and tells it Bible stories so it will be a Christian. D named his Douglas and gets very upset if you don’t address Douglas by his name. D carries it from room to room, wherever he goes. Yes, I know I have strange children. I bought some lucky bamboo, which is the curly kind. It’s so cool!! It’s super easy to take care of (a plus for me, since I kill plants), it has no scent, it looks asian, hubby isn’t allergic and it looks really neat! Maybe I’ll post a picture, ha ha ha.

Hubby and I are on each others last nerve and I’m so ready for a normal routine to kick in. UGH.

Did I mention the enormous bugs and slimy lizards that live here?

It cost $2.60 HKD (Hong Kong Dollars) to ride the bus, each way. That works out to be 35 cents per trip in US money.

The escalators in the subway and train stations go so fast that your hair blows. Once you get on, hang on! Every time we get on, L always says, “Whooooooa!” Tee hee

We have three appliances in our laundry room and two outlets. I am constantly planning what needs to run next and what needs to run after that. I miss being able to just do laundry or run the dishwasher without planning it all out. Not to mention that when you unplug things, sometimes it trips the breaker, causing the power to go out in the entire apartment (not building though). Mr. Electrical Engineer isn’t sure why it happens, but does know what to do when the breaker overloads and the house fills with the HORRIBLE smell of burning/melting industrial wire. If we hadn’t caught it, we would have had a fire in our electrial box. I’ll bet C will never forget that!

Graham crackers, a favorite around here, are tricky to find. They carry them at the super expensive store on the island, but otherwise, not easy to find. I did find out that there is a UK equivalent (well, they are close, but not the same) called “digestive biscuits”. Now, c’mon, doesn’t that sound yummy? Supposedly, the name Digestive was derived from its high content of baking soda as an aid to food digestion. They really do taste better than that makes it sound.

People stay up much later here and sleep later. It is common for people to call each other until midnight. Stores, etc, do not open until 10 at the earliest, some even later. The grocery stores do open earlier, so I can go at 8:30 or 9:00 and have the entire store to myself!!

The kids have been wearing shorts. Are any of you out there wearing shorts? Hrm? Anyone? Just checking.

Ok, I guess that’s enough for now. This post turned out to be a super long one and I don’t want to put everyone to sleep. Have a wonderful weekend!

This entry was posted on Saturday, December 15th, 2007 at 9:10 am and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.